‘Punjabis are the Irish of India’
CHANDIGARH: The tall Brian McElduff, the Irish ambassador to India, beams as he spies a table laden with whisky. It’s not just any w his ky, it’s Irish whisky, the fastest growing category of spirits in the world, McElduff explains the gleam in his eyes.
It’s a gleam that any spirited Punjabi will understand. The ambassador, who is on a mission to promote Ireland in City Beautiful, is well aware of the comparisons people of this state make with the Irish. Tell him how Irish are dubbed the Punjabis of Britain, and he shoots back, “Then, Punjabis are the Irish of India.”
Be it their nomadic nature, their love for spirits, or their dedication to their roots, there are many similarities the Irish share with Punjabis.
Cork in Ireland is home to a shrine dedicated to the victims of the Air India flight Kanishka bombing in 1983.
Then there is the legendary friendship between Irish national poet WB Yeats and Rabindra Nath Tagore. “We have a bust of Tagore in central Dublin,” says McElduff, himself a Dubliner.
“The Irish may be very small in number, but they have a global presence as 50% of them migrated in the 19 th century. They introduced both the St Patrick’ s festival and even Halloween in the US; in India, they came as teachers,” says McElduff.
With changing times, Irish nuns and brothers in missionary schools are being replaced with e-learning portals. Ireland, says Mc El duff, is also becoming ago-to destination for higher studies.
“As of now, we have more than 20,000 students from India.” The biggest advantage that education in Ireland gives Indians is that they are allowed to work there for two years, he adds.
The last 40 years have seen Ireland transform itself from a primarily agrarian economy to one heavy on information technology, aviation and service sector.
McElduff claims the Indian budget airlines are a takeaway fromthe Ryan Airways, the lowcost airline that made travelling across Europe a child’s play.
“Ireland also introduced the world to aircraft leasing,” he says, telling how most Indian aircraft are on lease from Ireland. The ambassador says at present, Ireland is home to 25,000 Indians.